Teenagers Perceptions of Retail Format in Shopping Malls: A study on Forum Mall and its Patronage in Bangalore

Abstract

The Indian retail market has grown at a double-digit compound annual growth rate over the last five years and was worth an estimated $554bn in 2011 and is expected to grow further. The Indian economy grew throughout the global downturn, with increasing consumer purchasing power bolstering the retail sector. Retailing is now the second highest contributor to India’s gross domestic product. (PR Newswire, New York, 2012)."Facebook, Twitter and more have become de rigueur rather than optional for centre marketers,"(Henry,Alison). “Centre owners and managers are also placing renewed emphasis on enhancing the 'experience' of in a bricks and-mortar environment, through targeted promotional events to engage consumers and offer them additional incentives to shop in-mall vs online."The forum mall in Bangalore presents a unique retail pattern site in Bangalore that helps build the brand identity of the mall for teenagers, as they are the ones who like the format. This study explores the relationship between teenager’s identity and their perception towards Forum Mall as a blend of lifestyle mall retailing and a patronage pattern. A store intercept survey approach was used to collect data from 120 teenagers mostly college and university
students. Findings indicated that teenager’s identity as a mall enthusiast and/or a habitual mall visitor had little impact on their perceptions about the importance of selected store atmospherics in the decision to shop at Forum mall, Bangalore but did influence some of their intended patronage behaviors towards the mall.